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DeLorean to Come Back (Sorta)
Alcibaides writes "DeLorean Motor Company, a suburban Houston company that rebuilds DeLoreans, is laying plans to bring the car back into limited production. The last DeLorean rolled off the assembly line in Northern Ireland in 1982. But like Duran Duran, the Rubik's Cube and other Reagan-era icons, the car retains a following. Of the 9,000 built in 1981 and 1982, about 6,500 are still on the road, according to James Espey, vice president of DeLorean Motor."
the new production run has the flux compensator as standard issue now ;)
If this were true we'd already be inundated with DeLoreans now, coming back in time to visit the momentous occassion when they decided to make them again.
One point twenty one gigawatts!
Don't forget the DeLorean Car Show next summer. I'm not a DeLorean owner (or even a fan, really), but I think it'll be fun to see so many DeLoreans gathered in one place.
.. to make the bodyshell corrode faster, to conform with the trend for everything to be made as craply as possible out of the worst materials.
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I think the last half dozen or so that were produced were factory painted. If you saw one of those, then you saw something truly rare. If it was an aftermarket thing, too bad. keytohwy
No, but I understand that there's a cocaine compartment.
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
why not do it properly and use modern underpinnings, instead of the crappy engine and gearbox of the original? ISTR the suspension wasn't any good either, so change that as well. The shape may be iconic, but a good car, it wasn't.
A very common argument with my wife goes something like this: "Mark my words honey: I will have a DeLorean DMC-12 before I die!" "Where the hell are you going to find one?" "Uhhh" [tries to think of creative time-traveling solution] Thank you Slashdot. I think I may have finally won a fight! Bringing the total score to 1-189,203. Yes! Now, let's see if you bastards can handle 90...
barack to the future?
They do quite well for themselves. Not really news though.
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Buick turbo might be a better fit.
I love those things too, and if I weren't an unemployed college student, I'd be trying to get my hands on one.
IIRC, only the US versions (which were probably the majority) were severely underpowered. The European ones weren't exactly speed demons either, but they had around 170 hp as opposed to the 120 hp in the American ones. 170 hp is actually a pretty good result for a 2.8l engine from the early 80s. Our '85 Ford Scorpio had a 2.8l Cologne V6 which produced around 150 hp. And for additional comparison, the Porsche 924 ranged from 110 hp in early US models to 170 in the '88 Turbo version. This power reduction, as well as softer and higher suspension (and the 85mph speedo!) were appearantly a result of idiotic federal regulations at the time.
Still, more powere is (almost) never a bad idea though, so I'd love to see something more powerful in the new DMC.
It's slow and heavy. It's grossly underpowered. It's nothing like a 'sports car' as the article ignorantly claims. Even if brought back, it's unlikely its styling would survive the major rehashing it would undergo to avoid offending the sensibilities of the modern automobile consumer. And then there are all the safety considerations which would likely change the chassis in significant ways. No, whatever car is brought back, it won't be your father's DeLorean. That might be a good thing.
Hey, even with a six cylinder, it could still get up to 88 miles per hour without to much trouble, provided you had gas.
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This guy put a Mazda 20B into his Delorean, twice the power of the stock V6, plus it's smooooooth. Instead of the same underpowered old engine, put an engine in that the car deserves.
I'm sure in 1985 gasoline is available at every corner drugstore, but in this century it's a little hard to come by.
I'm pretty sure they didn't have any engine under the hood...
(Rear engine, folks.)
Procrastination -- because good things come to those who wait.
If Mr. Fusion could provide drive power to the car, BTTF III would have been a mighty short movie.
When Marty goes back to 1885 he's got Mr. Fusion, but they can't return to 1985 right away because he ripped a fuel line when he arrived-- so all the gasoline leaks out of the car and there's no way to replace it in 1885 Hill Valley.
Hence the whole 'stealing the train' bit.
~Philly
I guess not many posters here actually owned one. I had one for about 3 years in the late '80s, and am something of a car geek (I recently owned a 1995 BMW M5 Station Wagon, for example). Anyway, after reading the posting here, I feel the need to provide more accurate information about the car. The following are in no particular order.
Mobyy_6kl was basically right about the engine: The US saw a detuned version of the PVR 2.8L V6, though in US trim it's peak output was rated at 130hp (not 120) and ~165 lb-ft.
One important thing to realize is the state of automotive engineering at the time the DeLorean was sold. If you compare it to the cars being manufactured and sold today, things look very different.
While today's economy cars have engines as powerful as the DeLorean's; In 1982, there were only 4 car models being sold that were rated as having over 200 peak horsepower. Only 4. Today, virtually every family sedan has more power than that. DeLorean One now sells a tuned and upgraded version of the very same engine that puts out around 195 hp.
The build quality of "exotic" cars has drastically changed since the time of the DeLorean. For it's time, the quality, and fit-and-finish (of the later build cars especially) of the DeLorean were very good. If you ever go look at an exotic car from that era, say a Ferrari 308, look carefully at the interior and panels, check the gaps and how straight the lines and seams are. Examine the switchgear. The Ferrari of the time was not much better than a kit car, and can't compare the build quality of today's "exotics". We can thank very rapid technology and quality advancement, not to mention the Acura NSX for giving the rest of the industry a lesson on build quality and reliability.
The DeLorean was envisioned as more of a Luxury/Grand Touring coupe than a pure performance car. It also has its roots in a 1970's safety car design.
A lot of parts were sourced from other manufacturers, making service interesting and sometimes much less expensive than it otherwise would be. The 'backbone' the car sits on is from Lotus (Lotus Esprit) as well as the windshield. The brakes/pads were from the same company that was supplying Jaguar at the time. The A/C system was a GM/Delco unit, same as on some Cadillacs. And so on...
Though underpowered, the handling was good for the time, especially considering its 65/35 rear weight distribution (it was a true rear-engine car, not mid-engine). Lotus, whose engineering group is still doing chassis tuning for other car companies today, is responsible for the DeLoreans handling. Note the rear tires were larger than the fronts. Try tossing around a Fiero to see the difference the engineering makes. The brakes were pretty good for their time (pre ABS/Monster rotor size).
Build Quality and reliability increased with production (VIN) number. The first thousand or so cars had to be extensively re-worked when they arrived in the USA to fix manufacturing and design errors. Later cars were bolted together much, much better. And I do mean bolter. I swear that you could almost completely tear down a DeLorean with just a 10mm socket wrench. Also, there were about 2200 design changes (big and small) from the first car to the last one off the line. I know several late '81s that had over 100,000 miles put on them without needing excessive maintenance.
Most of the DeLoreans were 1981 models, with a few '82 and '83 models. The DeLorean plant shut down and restarted near the end. Early '81s had black interiors, and the rest had Grey (a big improvement IMHO). For the '82s and '83s you could get the Black interior as an option. It was a comfy car to ride in. I had passengers fall asleep on me several times.
None of the cars was ever painted at the factory. All painted cars were done aftermarket. The thick type 304 Stainless Steel panels had an epoxy coating and were designed to last at least 25 years. At the time of the DeLorean's design, most cars still regul
On a mid- or rear-engine car the hood is in back, and the trunk is in front. The engine is still under the hood, it's just that the hood isn't where you're used to it being.
It's a heavy car but lots of guys are swapping in the 3800SC engine out of the bonnevilles and Grand AM GTP's and making the delorean into the car it was supposed to be. Even though they are heavy when you dump in 260hp stock you get quite a kick in the pants on that car.
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I understand that there's a cocaine compartment
Yep. The owner's manual refers to it as the "blow hole".
Soylent Green is peoplicious!
My next-door neighbor's pal had one of these cars, roughly 20 years ago. I was too young to drive but I did get to see it up close.
The OUTSIDE of the car looked awesome.
The inside of the car looked rather like it was home-made. Instead of the contoured flush-fitting panels that even cheap cars had back then, it was all square-cut panels. Granted they were covered in fair-quality leather, but the interior did look rather clunky.
And as others have mentioned, the US version had a lower-end engine. The guy told me that it would only go about 120 mph tops, which was surprising because (for what they cost new) I'd thought they were much faster than that.
~